Census

Census records for County Mayo (and Ireland in general) were mostly destroyed prior to 1900.

The following web site provides researchers with free online access to an index, with images, to the only two complete censuses available for Ireland: the 1901 and 1911 censuses, available at the National Archives of Ireland

Church Records

Church of Ireland

FHL (Family History Library) has few transcription copies of Church of Ireland parishes

Presbyterians

The vast majority of Presbyterian chapel registers have never been centrally archived, and thus are found in various locations. [Regretably, preservation of these precious records and the rich Presbyterian heritage of local Presbyterians as well as descendants of same, at large whose roots originate from Ireland, are at risk unless and until such time as when these registers are all copied into at least microform or, better--a digitized format.]

You must conduct exhaustive, thorough studies to determine to which Presbyterian denomination your ancestor belonged; and to then, determine the whereabouts of surviving registers--if any. The following most likely places to start your search to find and search Presbyterian registers starts with checking at the following locations:

the local Presbyterian congregation/church (if still in use)

distant Presbyterian chapels (if the local chapel closed)

town libraries

county archives/libraries

PRONI (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland)

The National Archives, Dublin

The National Library of Ireland

Other:

The excellent rootsireland web site for County Mayo has some Presbyterian data now available online for 7 different chapels; some from as early as 1819.

The FHL (Family History Library) has but few transcription copies of Presbyterian chapels

Methodist

The rootsireland web site for County Mayo has some Methodist data now available online for about 5 different chapels in the county from as early as 1829.

Roman Catholic

The FHL (Family History Library) has several copies of the original Roman Catholic parish registers of County Mayo parishes in its collection. You can identify these listed online at FamilySearch.org. IF you know the name of the civil parish in which your Catholic ancestor resided, or was from, click "Catalog" and type in the name of the parish and then highlight/click on "Church Records".The National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin, is the custodian of all available Roman Catholic parish registers from throughout the country--including County Mayo.

The rootsireland.ie web site has data from numerous Roman Catholic parishes now online for searching. There are fees attached (about $7 for each entry).

Civil Registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths

Government-sponored registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1864. To find information on the vital events of your irish ancestor, here are some helpful websites for obtaining critical information:

There are fees for performing particular searches; see their website for further information.

Estate Records

Estate records may provide names of households in such records as leases, rents, and mortgages. These ought to be consulted and used when extant, especially when church registers do not exist for the time period being researched. Here are some web sites which hold estate records and some transcriptions of same:

Topographical Dictionary of Irelandby Samuel A. Lewis; at LibraryIreland.com - provides a rich 1837 historical perspective of each Ireland parish and large township; great for determining which churches existed in each parish--Church of Ireland or Nonconformist

Societies

Family history societies often publish helpful journals, transcripts, compiled genealogies and host helpful websites. They may have ongoing projects to transcribe records and create indexes. Most societies publish queries in their journals and maintain lists of members’ research interests that may be helpful to you. You may want to join one of these societies, reap the benefits of their expertise and resources or support its efforts.

Here are the two major family history societies holding coverage for the whole county and the contact information for each: